Tuesday, September 8, 2026

The SAFE Merger: Members "Taken For A Ride"?

 

The SAFE and BECU mega-merger mismatch...                    ... as logical as a fish on a bicycle!

✅ Somethings just don't mix! Oil and water, a cat in a dog park, fire and ice, chewing gum and potato chips, you and your ex! Sacramento and Tukwila!   

...  the forecast for Culture Clash looks assured!                              READ IT HERE 👉 [CUDaily-link]        

                                           California             Washington State

State Animal:                  Grizzly Bear         Marmot Squirrel  

Better rates :                       SAFE                      Not Here!

State Insect:                      Butterfly                  Dragonfly  

Lower costs:                        SAFE                      Don't Ask!

State Sport:                        Surfing                     Pickle Ball

State Dance:                West Coast Swing         Square Dance  

Local Ownership:               SAFE                         Unh-uh!  

State Weather:                  Sunshine                      Rain

✔ Return of the $400+ million in equity to its rightful owners - current, local SAFE members?  ["No Way, Jose!"]                       

  Looks a little fishy, doesn't it? 

Monday, September 7, 2026

The SAFE Merger: If It Came With A $125k Per Year Job, Would It Influence Your Vote? C'mon, Let's Be Honest... Part II

  Rebranding??

✅ In most states, voluntary service by credit union members on their Board of Directors is a core statutory and cooperative hallmark of credit unions. California is no exception! 

Here's the law in California: Financial Code section 14410 (a)(1): "A member of the board of directors, supervisory committee, audit committee, or credit committee shall not receive compensation for the member's services as a member of the board of directors, supervisory committee, audit committee, or credit committee..." 

SAFE Directors are not compensated. BECU directors are paid to the tune of $125,000 per year! 'Course the BECU Board is required to meet four times a year, so that's only $31,250 per meeting... probably not even $10,000 an hour!

✅ Of the @180,000 households in Sacramento [link], 66.8% of all those Sacramento households earn less than $125,000 on an annual basis. Not unreasonable to say that two-thirds of SAFE working families earn less in a year, than those SAFE directors "self-advancing" to the BECU Board will collect.  

😎 Of course, the SAFE Board did not disclose in the member notice the names of the SAFE directors who will receive that little $125,000 "perk" (for a minimum of 3 years!) It's a secret, buried in that 2025 "definitive agreement" no one is allowed to see. "People Helping People", or "People Helping Themselves"? 

✔ Would a "payout perk" of a part-time job paying $125,000 per year affect your vote? Be honest. 

  Of course not, of course not... of course not?